Ultra low frequency electromagnetic wave anomaly and its spectrum characteristics before earthquakes

Many observations and researches show that abundant and intense ultra low frequency (ULF) electromagnetic anomalies appeare before local earthquakes. In order to understand this phenomenon systematically, the transmission property and the formation of the seismic-electric dipole are discussed in this paper. The results show that the vertical component of the ULF electric anomaly before earthquake has the properties of better penetration, less disturbance and high signal-to-noise ratio. The signal can be easily extracted and received. The anomaly should be an important way to seek for reliable short-term and imminent earthquake precursors. After the spectrum analysis of the (ULF) electric field anomalies, we found that the periods of the anomaly related to local earthquakes are from a few minutes to a dozens minutes. There is a relation between the spectrum of the anomaly and the epicentral distance. The ULF electric field anomalies strongly rely on the orientation of the seismogenic zone. The percolation electric field anomaly and its spectrum amplitude do not have obvious relation with the size of local earthquakes. Contribution No. 94A0097, Institute of Geophysics, SSB, China. The English version is improved by Prof. Guo-Hua FAN, Institute of Geophysics, State Seismological Bureau.